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The Mentally Advanced Series
My Little Pony: The Mentally Advanced Series, also variously titled My Little Pony: The (Abridged) Mentally Advanced Series and My Little Pony: The (abridged) Mentally Advanced Series, is a series of videos that recontextualize episodes from the original show by re-editing and re-dubbing them. The general storylines are often kept somewhat intact, but the characters' personalities are drastically reinterpreted. Most of the voices are performed by the series' writer, FiMFlamFilosopher, who also performs these duties for Rainbow Dash Presents. The series' genesis was a result of creative differences with the team of another planned abridged series; FiMFlamFilosopher left and created his own videos from scratch. Episodes Every episode except for Episode 10 opens with a title card depicting an apparently lobotomized Pinkie Pie, accompanied by a voice-over in which Pinkie sings an abridged version of the theme song. Episode 10 introduced a new abriged version of the theme song that plays with the title sequence. After it is done, a title card appears showing a crying Fluttershy holding a lobotomized Pinkie's head. After over a year of delays, FiMFlamFilosophy decided to skip over the unfinished eleventh episode and start work on the next one instead; barely two weeks after the announcement, episode 12 was released. YouTube Take-down The Episodes came under fire in January 2013 by YouTube's automatic copyright detectors and several of the episodes including the newest (at the time) Episode 12. Although initially trying to combat YouTube's claims by referencing to "Fair-Use laws", FiMFlamFilosphy and Petirep decided it would be best to not fight a losing battle with YouTube and instead just host the episodes on their website Dawnsomewhere.com. At first they planned on using their Blip.tv account to host the episodes, but due to unforeseen circumstances their Blip account was also taken down. They decided to instead just host the episodes directly from their sites server instead. On January 27, FimFlamFilosophy uploaded redirect videos for each of the episodes redirecting viewers to each of the episodes on Dawnsomewhere.com. Episode 12 Redirect video Animation by Petirep Each of the redirect videos features an identical animation by Rainbow Dash Presents artist Petirep featuring Fluttershy attempting to get an orangutan dressed as a cop and the named "YouTube" to post her valentine that reads "To All My Friends on YouTube!" on its refrigerator; instead the orangutan takes the valentine to be burned by another orangutan named "Mr. Moneybags." The "YouTube" orangutan cop and Mr. Moneybag's eating of a hamburger are inside jokes to FimFlamFilosophy's Cookie Train Album ad in which the same orangutan cop accuses dash of being the "Hamburgerler" and confiscates her hamburgers. Each of the redirect video features a unique line of poetry ending with "Nothing's perfect in life." The initial influx of viewers to the site after the redirect caused the website to nearly crash. FiMFlamFilosphy and Petirep later decided to upgrade the website to handle the new higher levels traffic. All of the Episodes of the Mentally advanced series can still be found on dawnsomewhere.com. A picture of Allen (voice actor for Thrackerzod and Celestia) is used as the thumbnail for the unaired Episode 11. Rainbow Dash Presents Rainbow Dash Presents is a spinoff series also written by FiMFlamFilosophy and features art by artist Petriep. It features 'Mentally Advanced Series' Rainbow Dash reading popular fanfics with a humorous spin. Characters Twilight Sparkle Twilight is the main protagonist of the series. She is depicted in the series as an intelligent unicorn who has to learn about friendship in Ponyville due to Princess Celestia forcing her to. Unlike her show counterpart, she is shown to be mean and racist to non-Unicorns (though it seems that all three races generally distrust one another in this continuity). She often blames things on Spike and Fluttershy (whose name she does not remember) and has made Apple Bloom nearly cry. As a child, Twilight was a student at Princess Celestia's school. While there, Celestia would perform terrible acts, sometimes in front of Twilight. Some of these acts include: destroying the stuffed animal, Mrs. Buzzy, her father gave her; forcing her to perform a surgery on a puppy just to give a reason as to why she could not have one; and shoving things into other ponies' rear ends. This childhood has deeply affected her, causing her to have mental breakdowns due to her fear of Celestia and possibly explaining as to why she is so mean. However, she does not want to become similar to Celestia and will apologize if she feels this is happening, as she did when she argued with Apple Bloom. As mentioned before, she does not like non-Unicorns, but she does not really hold respect for Ponyville unicorns like Rarity either. She holds some respect for Applejack, the only pony who probably challenges her for being the most intelligent of the Mane 6, but this is little above the respect held for the other Ponyville residents. She holds some respect for Spike, but, like Applejack, this is barely above the respect she has for the others, often forcing him to perform chores and blaming things on him. Any respect she has for Celestia is out of fear. Everyone else she holds barely any respect for, especially Fluttershy. Applejack Applejack is shown to be a hard worker for the Apple family. She is shown to be intelligent like Twilight, but, probably due to her country background, this is often ignored by the others. While she is shown to be relatively normal, she does have some demons. She has performed acts of incest, including her first kiss being her cousin, Braeburn, and, due to a 'certain colt cuddling stallion' (Big Macintosh), Apple Bloom being her sister and daughter. It is also shown that she may be an alcoholic, drinking large amounts of liquor, despite Big Macintosh and Twilight warning her not to, that results in her: helping Pinkie bake cupcakes to poison the other Ponyville residents; rounding up rabbits so her dog can eat them despite Fluttershy just wanting to hug them; and falling unconscious after trying to help Rainbow Dash with her trick. Beyond these, however, she is arguably the most normal pony of the Mane 6, being a a hard worker who just wants to help her family business. Fluttershy Fluttershy is depicted like her show counterpart in that she is shown to be an extremely shy pony. Unlike her counterpart, however, she does want to gain some attention (though not as much attention as Rainbow Dash wants) and has not learned how to become more assertive. Most of the others have the least respect for her due to her lack of confidence, which makes her the butt of many jokes and being blamed by Twilight and Pinkie for causing various acts. This has resulted in her being "mono-dimensional" (something Rarity wishes not to become) and not playing a role as large as the others, even in the "Dragonshy" episode. A running gag is that Twilight Sparkle rarely remembers her name, which is what Pinkie eventually adopted once she saw that she similarly disliked Fluttershy. In 'Rainbow Dash Presents: My Little Dashie', she is mistreated by the story's apparent narrative rather than Twilight or Pinkie, having not only been left behind in the "real world", but is also captured by the government. Rarity Rarity is depicted as a nymphomaniac, claiming to have slept with many stallions. Like Twilight, she does not hold much respect for non-unicorns. Due to her nymphomania, she will often try to get what she wants through sexual acts (she offered to give Spike three blowjobs in exchange for a ticket at the Grand Galloping Gala). She has said that she worries she will become mono-dimensional like Fluttershy, only being known as a nymphomaniac. To avoid this, she wishes to have sex with "different kinds of stallions . . . maybe a few mares". It is possible that the reason she has sex so much (or claims to) is because she is lonely and worries no stallion would actual love her. However, this was just an insult from Twilight, but it did strike a nerve in her. Pinkie Pie Pinkie Pie is depicted as a psychopath obsessed with pain and death. She often speaks in the third person and ends most sentences with 'yes'. She usually blames the acts she does on Fluttershy, even when it is obvious that she did it. If she cannot blame it on Fluttershy, she uses the excuse of discrimination because she is an Earth pony. This led to her having conflicting feelings when Twilight, a unicorn who does not like Earth ponies, agreed with her in blaming Fluttershy. She has also shown to be paranoid, believing 'high enemies in Canterlot' to have poisoned her food (her solution is to eat the food prior to going). She has performed many acts that can/have led to Ponyville, its residents and/or others being harmed, including (but possibly not limited to): making cupcakes with a drunk Applejack so she can poison the Ponyville residents (though she eats one herself); spraying Fluttershy with aqua regia (though she doesn't go through with it, since Rainbow Dash fails to understand the "joke"); hurt Gilda and befriend Rainbow Dash so she can take Gilda as her own; give Fluttershy a parasprite so Ponyville will be destroyed and Fluttershy will take the blame; and killing a dragon by nonchalantly dressing as a box filled with poison lobsters. Rainbow Dash Rainbow Dash is depicted as a ditzy, somewhat self-centered Pegasus. She has her own spin-off of the Mentally Advanced Series called 'Rainbow Dash Presents.' In it, she sits by a fireplace and reads various fan fictions (despite the fact that she cannot read well). However, she often adds her own twist to them: for example, in 'Bubbles,' she inserts herself into the story as Derpy's babysitter and calls Derpy's parents her own. Another is when she is reading 'Cupcakes' with Pinkie Pie. Whereas Pinkie wants to retain the gore properties of the story, Rainbow Dash turns it into a romance. By the time her spinoff videos started, she developed more of a dopey voice. She often wants to be the center of attention, admitting this multiple times in the Mentally Advanced Series and in Rainbow Dash Presents: Captain Hook the Biker Gorilla. In the first episode of the Mentally Advanced Series, she has said she always wanted to make a complete fool out of herself in front of her idols just so she can get their attention. In Captain Hook the Biker Gorilla, she wants her stories to be on Trixie Variety's front page because, as she puts it, "She needs to be loved!" This center of attention may explain as to why she inserts herself into the stories she reads if they are not about her. If they are about her, she generally speaks of how awesome she is. Along with wanting to be the center of attention, she is also depicted as not being too bright. She often complains about having to sign a lot of paperwork, and she had to look at a book in order to know how to play Hide'n'Seek (when she read 'multiple of ten', mispronounced it, then realized it was actually multiple, she expressed annoyance at the possibility doing math). Her sexuality is a recurring joke in the series. Whereas everyone else believes her to be a lesbian, she thinks Lesbia as a place and is confused as to why people think she comes from there. When asked if she was gay, she said she was, but she referred to the definition of being happy. However, when she talks down at Gilda, a sexual innuendo in her speech makes the identity of her real sexuality even more confusing. In 'Rainbow Dash Presents: Cupcakes,' she believes Pinkie Pie came off real strong, but she couldn't be with her because she is not a Wonderbolt. This shows that she may not care about the gender of her partner, but they have to be a Wonderbolt. It also shows that she does not actually know what sex is, believing it to be some type of hug (despite falling in love with a monkey version of The Joker in "Rainbow Dash Presents: My Little Dashie"). Spike Spike is Twilight's personal assistant shown to have an accent between Irish and Scottish. In the start of the series, he is shown to have a special bond with Twilight much like in the normal series. However, later episodes have shown she holds little appreciation for him and almost treats him as the equivalent of a slave. He has to do Twilight's chores, is blamed for things that he didn't do (in Episode 8, Twilight puts him on the suspect list simply because she already blamed him and in 'Rainbow Dash Presents: Spiderses,' she calls Spike so that he can turn her back into a normal pony because 'doesn't know why, but this is his fault!'), and she didn't care when he wanted to speak with her in Episode 4. However, he gets some payback when strange men (hinted to have been Celestia's) take him away and interrogate him. When Twilight asked what he said, he told her, "What do you mean what did I tell here, they took me to Room 101! I told them everything! I admitted to the things you didn't do! They asked me if you were secretly working for Mothra; I told them yes. If you weren't on a list then, you're definitely on one now." Princess Celestia Princess Celestia is depicted as a mad tyrant who likes to torture others (basically a high powered version of Pinkie Pie). She speaks in a rough, Cockney accent. Celestia has performed many dark deeds, including: genocide of the Griffons; shoving things up others' rear ends (one time showing this in front of Twilight); and using molten silver as a form of punishment. It seems that of all the things that she's abused, she gets the most entertainment out of psychologically scarring Twilight. Twilight often speaks of the various deeds that Celestia did when she was a kid. When Twilight sent back the two tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala (despite Applejack's warning that she might torture her), Celestia sent her six tickets and a brief letter that said she would torture her later. In Episode 8, when the parasprites had basically destroyed Ponyville, Twilight's life flashed before her eyes. When she did appear, she had continually got around Twilight's question and made Twilight actually snap when she revealed that she could read her mind. However, she did not punish her due to her desire to see the destruction herself. In 'Rainbow Dash Presents: Spiderses,' she turns Twilight (and Big Macintosh) into spiders, simply because she was bored. Unlike the normal series, the populace outright believes that she is a walking God or physical deity. She is sometimes referred to as "the queen", also suggesting she outranks Luna rather than considering her sister an equal. Apple Bloom Apple Bloom is shown have a more moral view of the world. Due to being a child, however, whenever she tries to speak, she is often blown off by the others. When Zecora comes to Ponyville, she asks for a more diplomatic solution, to which Twilight responds as ridiculous. When she tells Twilight that no one listens to a child. Twilight tells her it would if she wasn't so childish. This actually true in its own way as she lights up at the mention of sweets. However, she also takes advantage of being a child. When Doctor Whooves attempted to make her leave him alone, she responded, "Children have no empathy! I don't even care!" Episode 10 doesn't focus on her getting her cutie mark, but instead just getting friends. It was shown that her only friend was Twist, whose friendship she broke with due to Twist being 'worst pony'. She then tried to form bonds with Pinkie and Rainbow Dash and strengthen her sisterly bond with Applejack, but these attempts only resulted in failure. However, after Applejack makes her go to Diamond Tiara's party to make friends (in exchange with her getting grounded twice to make up for the punishment she didn't recieve when she threatened to call Child Services), she meets Scootaloo and Thrackerzod. The three decided to become friends, and it has shown to be going strong, with Apple Bloom and Thrackerzod going to Scootaloo's test for moral support. Thrackerzod Thrackerzod is the Mentally Advanced counterpart of Sweetie Belle who first appeared in the post-credits of Episode 7. It is strongly implied that it is an otherworldly being in possession of the real Sweetie Belle, although no one (not even Rarity) seems to be conscious of this - in Episode 9, while Twilight was staying up late before studying geometry, a demon had taken over her house. This made her have to go get holy water, setting up the plot of the episode. After the events of the episode, she is able to trap the demon, naming it 'Taz'. However, 'Taz' escapes from its prison in the next episode. When Thrackerzod soon makes her official appearance, she then suggests to Apple Bloom and Scootaloo to "kill Twilight Sparkle," although this drive for vengeance seems to have been dropped in subsequent appearances. She is shown to be more intelligent than Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, having to point out multiple times in 'Rainbow Dash Presents: Captain Hook the Biker Gorilla' that the monkey head that must be screwed into the slot for them to escape is backwards. However, they don't listen, and this results in their capture. Thrackerzod often asks as to what normal ponies do so she can understand them better and successfully blend in. For example, when she first speaks to Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, she asks them, "Do normal ponies plummet to their deaths? I don't want to do that unless that is what normal ponies do." However, she would occasionally slip up in an awkward manner. This happens in 'Rainbow Dash Presents: Captain Hook the Biker Gorilla,' when she wants to give a prayer when Orion is about to be sacrificed instead of escaping. However, she then quickly covers this up to avert suspicion. In the same video, Thrackerzod says, "I am a normal pony. Therefore I would like a normal explanation of the ritual sacrifice of children," which makes Rainbow Dash and Surprise break into song. In 'Rainbow Dash Presents: Haunting Nightmare', Thrackerzod inexplicably makes a surprise appearance in Luna's story to exercise Twilight Sparkle (which Zecora unwittingly takes credit for), and flees once she is spotted by the party. Scootaloo Scootaloo is depicted as talking with hint of rhythm in her voice and having a constant libido, with her mind wandering into predominantly sexual topics. She speaks in mostly sexual innuendos and often talks of sexual acts, such as seducing Ms. Blossomforth so Apple Bloom and Thrackerzod can help her with her test (though this turns out to be legal but only hinders her). Whereas Rainbow Dash's sexuality isn't clear, it seems that Scootaloo is bisexual. When she first meets Apple Bloom and Thrackerzod, she asks for them to play games like Spin the Bottle and Truth or Dare. In 'Rainbow Dash Presents: Captain Hook the Biker Gorilla,' she signs the 'Yes' box in Orion's note that says, 'Do you like me?' along with giving him a picture. Later, she smiles when Orion announces that he's in love with her (and still does even when he says he reminds her of his mom), calls him 'baby' a few times, and says she is his 'love anemone'. While the other two CMCs have families, Scootaloo's family seems to only be a chicken, due to her family not being established in the actual show. Scootaloo always says "hoo!" or "baby" at random times, similar to the cartoon character Johnny Bravo. Princess Luna Princess Luna plays an important part in Rainbow Dash Presents: Haunting Nightmare. Like her sister she is depicted to be somewhat mad, but unlike her sister, also self conscious and lonely. Also unlike Celestia, she doesn't seem to find the same enjoyment in torturing ponies; rather, she seems to be doing it because she doesn't know how else to connect to ponies, and like Rainbow Dash, she is in constant need of attention. Unlike the normal series, she continues to speak with the royal "we". References External links *A listing of all the episodes *A tumblr emulating the Mentally Advanced characters answering random questions, not by FiMFlamFilosophy Category:Fanmade videos